Door latch



Jur ae 24, 1941. c. R. WOLF ETAL DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June12, 1940 June 24, 1941; c. R. WOLF ETAL DOOR LATCH Filed June 12, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS CeczLE Zflof Patented June 24, 1941 noonLATCH Cecil B. 'Wolf, Rock Falls, a a-fried ,M. Foulds, Sterling, Ill.,assignors to .Frantz'Manufacturing Co., Sterling, 111., a corporation ofIllinois Application as. 12,

l 9 Claims.

This invention relates to door latches for use on doors or closures ofvarious kinds as, for example, those used on screen doors.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved construction and arrangement whereby a reciprocatingbolt isoperated by a rotary handle, the axis of which latter reci-procates withthe bolt.

It is also an object to provide certain .novel details and featuresofconstruction that 1.03.11 be used in combination or which might beused separately in difierent combinations.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved construction wherebycertain elements or features of construction, that were heretoforeconsidered necessary, are entirely eliminated.

It is also an object to provide certain details and specific features ofconstruction tending to reduce the 'cost of construction and to render alatch of this particular character more satisfactory in actual use. v

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists inmatters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. l is a perspective of a door latch embodyingthe principles of the invention, showing the same mounted on thevertical edge portion of a door. v

t Fig. 2 is a vertical section, on a larger scale, taken in a verticalplane between the handle and the-escutcheon, as .shown in Fig. l of thedrawings.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but showing the parts .in a difierentposition.

Fig. 4 is a similar view, but showing the escutcheon in a verticalposition and some of Fig.7 is a view similar to Fig. s, but showing theparts in 'a difierent position.

Fig. 8 is anenlarged verticalsection on line i a a in Fig. 110i thedrawings.

;Fig. 9 is a vertical section on line 9-9 in' Fig. 6,

looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 10 is a similar section on line llll in,

Fig-7 of the drawings.

Fig. ll-is a view similar to Fig. 10,,but showing the parts in adifierent position and illustrating how the device .is assembled on .adoor.

:As thus illustrated, the invention 'cornprisesas 1940, SerialNo.340,144. g

horizontal orreciprocating belt ,I, enclosed in a tubular casing 2, thedoor being bored horizonta lly between its inner and .outer sides. to

receive said casing. A transverse retraction pin 5 3 extends through ahorizontal transverse hole in the bolt and isprovided with ,an enlargedmiddle portion 4 that is held in said hole.- ,There is a coil spring .5between the rear ,end .of the bolt and th innerv end of the casing,which pushes the bolt into. locking position when the door is closed.

1 At each side of the door,. there isan escutcheon 6, fastened in placeby screws 1, or by any other suitable means. 2A hollow rivet on eachper- .tionof the pin 3 rigidly connects the handle 8 with the .cam plate9,, and a stationary cam plate ill is held within the escutcheon. whethe handle is turned about itshorizontal' and transverse axis; as shownin Fig. 3, oneendportion of theplate 9 engages one n po i n f he-p at-10, and the boltis retracted by the camming .action between the plates9 and ID in the rianllfir :Jillustrated. Thedoor can be unlatched byturn- ,ing the handle in the opposite direction, as

that eventthe upper end of the plate 9 will then strike the upper endportion of the plate l0, and the action willbe the same. Thus, thereciprocating latch bolt has a rotary handle, or preferably ,twohandles, rotatable about an axis that moves 3O backand forth with thebolt itself. It will be seen that the said-handle 8 is rigid withthesaid .rivet H and that the latter is then rigid vwith .th plate 9,previously mentioned. ,In addition, qit willbe seen that. the handle- 8iscurved in such, a manner that it starts first toward the adjacentvertical edge of the door, then curves around preferably in a shortcurve at l2, and thencurves toward-the door until it terminates in ashort curve at its free or distal end 'l.3, s o

40 thatthe handle is shaped to lit and conform ,to

. the 'hand,.instead of compelling the latterto conform tothe handle. Ofcourse, in a,sense, the hand must conform to the handle, but it willbeseen that the shape of the latter is such that it .45 .is heldin a veryeasy and natural grip of the hand. To permit movement of the pln'.3 backand forth with thebolt, the sides of theItubeNZ .areprovidedwithlongitudinal slots l4 terminating in round enlargements l5. In addition,the

escutcheon isprovided with a horizontalslot 16 for the back-andforthmovement of said pin.

Preferably,.an auxiliary locking deviceisprovided, which comprises theplate that has-a projecting handle. l8 extending through onefedge of theescutcheon. This plate has an .lang ul'ar 2 slot IQ for the smallerdiameter of the pin 3, and a spring plate 20 is provided with a bulge 2|for engaging said handle, to holdthe latter either up or down. When thehandle is down, as shown in Fig. 4, the latch bolt is free toreciprocate. But, when the handle 3 is up, then the lower angle portionof the slot 19 prevents horizontal movement of the pin 3, and the latchbolt is held in latched position. The plate 20also has a horizontal slot22, in which the pin 3 moves back and forth. a

It will be seen that the round enlargements .15 of the two slots l4 onlyfunction when the latch bolt mechanism is being assembled on the .door.For that purpose, the door is bored through its thickness at 23,transversely of the bore that is made for receiving the tubular casing 2in which the latch bolt reciprocates. When the tube 2 is inserted, it isstopped in the position shown in Fig. 1 1, and the pin 3 can then be.pushed through the holes 16 and also through the holes or enlargementsl5, and through the transverse hole in the bolt, until the enlargement 4at the middle of the pin is entirely within -the latch bolt. Then thecasing 2 can be fully inserted, and the escutcheons and handles can beput on, but in the reciprocation of the 'bolt, the enlargement 4 isnever brought opposite the round holes or enlargements I5, hence thereis no danger that the pin 3 will be accidentally pulled out endwise. Inthis connection, it will be seen that the oscillation of the plate "-9,previously mentioned, is limited by reason of its engagement with thehollow escutcheon 6.

inside escutcheon would have the said locking plate. Again, the rotaryhandle 8, through the "medium of the cam plate 9, exerts a powerfulleverage, when rotated in either direction, and 'hen cea strong coilspring 5 can be employed, 'asthe leverage is sufficient to easilyovercome the yielding resistance of quite a heavy spring.

i It is conceivable, of course, that other means could be" used forengaging and moving the retractor pin 3, instead of the handle mechanismshown, and still insure the advantages of the ,shape and form of saidpin 3 in the assembling ltof the latch mechanism on the door, without usfing'a complicated housing made in two or more pieces, and without usinga retractor pin that is reduced in its diameter at its middle, a strong"pin being used instead, in combination with a simple one-piece tubularcasing for the recipro- ,cating latch bolt.

Thus the latch bolt mechanism shown and described is comparativelyinexpensive to manu- ,facture, being characterized by low costproduction, and it is inexpensively installed by a carpenter on: thedoor, in addition to being satisfactory to the user.

It is important to observe that the handle 8 is held against axialdisplacement on the pin 3 by'the stationary plate '6 fastened to thedoor. This is because the plate "9 is fastened to the hollow rivet M andhence this plate 9, bearing against the inner surface of the plate 6,holds the handle against outward axial displacement. In addition, itwill be seen that the provision of the straight parallel guide edges ofthe slots H prevents endwise displacement of the pin 3 and thus obviatesthe necessity of circumferentially grooving the middle portion 4 of thispin for engagement with any retaining means. Moreover, with thisconstruction, the handle 8 does not need to be fastened to the pin '3and the latter is left free to rotate and the'handle is free to rotateon the pin, thus obviating the necessity of 7 providing any means forrigidly fastening the longitudinal reciprocating movement therein, a'retractor pin transversely received by the bolt -drical sleeve 2 of thelatch mechanism.

handle to the pin. The latch bolt is cylindrical and this is also trueof the tubular sleeve 2, and they are both held against rotation by thepin 3, as the latter extends transversely through both the bolt and thesaid sleeve. This construction also obviates the necessity of cuttingany slots in the door, which might be somewhat difficult, and instead"the simple expedient of boring the round holes 23 is emp1oyed,sothat thecarpenter work necessary for installing the latch on the door ispractically reduced .to a minimum, for it is also only necessary to borea round hole for the cylin- It is also important to observe that thesaid sleeve 2 is a simple one-piecesheet. metal affair and. is not castor made in two or more sections,

What we claim as our invention is:

1". .A reciprocating latch bolt for a door latch, said boltbeing boredtransversely, a retractor pin extending through the transverse bore ofthe bolt, said pin being formed with an enlarged middle portionoccupying said bore, a tubular casing for the bolt having lateral slotsterminating at their rear ends'in enlargements forming in effect roundholes through which the said middle portion of the pin may pass inassembling the latch bolt mechanism on a door, together with a spring inthe casing between the rear end of the latter and the rear end of thebolt, serving to force the latter into latching position when the dooris closed.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1 having a handle mounted to rotateon a reduced end portion of said pin, and means rotatable with saidhandle and engageable with fixed abutment means for'causing retractionof the bolt.

3. A reciprocating latch bolt assembly comprisinga' latch bolt, a casingreceiving the bolt for and thecasing, said casing having alongitudinally extending slot terminating adjacent its rear end in anenlarged opening, said pin having a circumf erentially enlarged centralportion receivable 7 within the casingand adapted to pass through saidenlarged opening but incapable of passing through said slot, said pinincluding extensions of relatively small transverse dimension'operativeto pass "thro ugh the' slot for retraction of the bolt when thetransverse pm is operatively received by the bolt. 5 7

49A reciprocating latchbolt assembly comprising a latch-bolt,- a casingreceiving the bolt for longitudinal reciprocating movement therein, aretractor pin transversely receivedby the'bolt --and the casing-saidcasing having a longitudinally extending slot terminating adjacent itsrear end'in an enlarged opening, said pin having a circumferentiallyenlarged "central'portion receivablew'ithin the casing'and "adapted topass j through said'enlarged opening but incapable of pas'singthroughsaid slo't, said pin including extensions of relatively small transversedimension operative to pass through the slot for retraction of the boltwhen the transverse pin is operatively received by the bolt, and springmeans in said casing urging said bolt and retractor pin for wardly inthe casing.

5. A reciprocating latch bolt assembly comprising a latch bolt, a casingreceiving the bolt for longitudinal reciprocating movement therein, aretractor pin transversely received by the bolt and the casing, saidcasing having a longitudinally extending slot terminating adjacent itsrear end in an enlarged opening, said pin having a circumferentiallyenlarged central portion receivable within the casing and adapted topass through said enlarged opening but incapable of passing through saidslot, said pin including extensions of relatively small transversedimension operative to pass through the slot for retraction of the boltwhen the transverse pin is operatively received by the bolt, springmeans in said casing urging said bolt and retractor pin forwardly in thecasing, and handle means journalled on said extensions for rotationabout the axis of said pin, and means responsive to rotation of thehandle for shifting said pin longitudinally of the slot to retract thebolt.

6. In a latch bolt assembly for a door or the like, a longitudinallyextending casing, a latch bolt mounted in said casing for movementlongitudinally thereof, longitudinally extending slots formed onopposite sides of the casing, an actuator pin comprising a relativelylarge central portion transversely receivable within said casing andbolt, said relatively large portion being inoperative to pass throughsaid slots, extensions of relatively small lateral dimension projectingfrom said relatively large central portion and adapted to pass outwardlythrough said slots, at least one of said slots terminating adjacent itsrear extremity in a relatively large aperture adapted to accommodate thesaid relatively large portion of the pin for insertion within thecasing.

7. A latch bolt assembly for a door or the like comprising a latch bolt,casing means adapted to extend about the latch bolt for mounting thelatch bolt for movement longitudinally thereof, pin means receivedtransversely of the bolt and having portions extending outwardly of theeasing for retracting the bolt, and means for actuating said pin formoving the bolt to retracted position, said last named means comprisingan actuating handle freely axially receivable upon said outwardlyextending portions of the pin in journalled relation for rotation on thepin and about the axis thereof and means operatively connected with thehandle and operable by rotation of the handle about said pin forshifting the pin longitudinally of the casing.

8. A latch bolt assembly for a door or the like comprising a latch bolt,casing means adapted to extend about the latch bolt for mounting thelatch bolt for movement longitudinally thereof, pin means receivedtransversely of the bolt and having portions extending outwardly of thecasing for retracting the bolt, and means for actuating said pin formoving the bolt to retracted position, said last named means comprisinga unit freely axially receivable on said outwardly extending portions ofthe pin for rotation in journalled relationship on the pin and about theaxis of said pin comprising a handle element, a shifting memberoperatively connected to said handle for rotation therewith, and meansattachable to a door surface for retaining said handle operatively inrotative position upon said pin.

9. A latch bolt assembly for a door or the like comprising a latch bolt,casing means adapted to extend about the latch bolt for mounting thelatch bolt for movement longitudinally thereof, pin means receivedtransversely of the bolt and having portions extending outwardly of theeasing for retracting the bolt, and means for actuating said pin formoving the bolt to retracted position, said last named means comprisinga unit freely axially receivable on said outwardly extending portions ofthe pin for rotation in journalled relationship on the pin and about theaxis of said pin comprising a handle element, a shifting memberoperatively connected to said handle for rotation therewith, and ahousing embracing said shifting member and attachable to an outer doorsurface for holding said unit in axial position upon said pin, saidhousing including a reaction portion adapted to coact with said shiftingmember for urging the bolt and pin to be retracted position.

CECIL R. WOLF. NEIL M. FOULDS.

